Overview

Stay at Hotel Karuizawa 1130 at an elevation of 1,130 metres in Tsumagoi Village, Gunma. The property sits in the Kita-Karuizawa highlands beside Joshinetsu Kogen National Park, with forests and Mount Asama shaping the surrounding landscape.

The large eight-storey resort has 238 rooms and extensive indoor and outdoor facilities. You can choose spacious accommodation, eat at a buffet or course restaurant, soak in natural Onioshi Onsen water, swim in the indoor pool, or look across the highlands from the rooftop Panorama Terrace.

Many rooms measure 56 square metres or more, making the hotel a practical choice when you travel with family or friends. Selected rooms also include private natural hot spring baths, while high-floor suites place Mount Asama beyond wide windows when the weather is clear.

Karuizawa Station is around 40 minutes away by complimentary shuttle. This places the hotel farther from the busy station district but closer to the volcanic landscapes, forests, ski areas, and attractions of northern Karuizawa and Tsumagoi.

Accommodation

Choose from compact twin rooms, larger twin rooms, Japanese-Western suites, four-bed suites, a Royal Suite, dog-friendly accommodation, and several premium rooms with private outdoor baths.

The Standard Twin measures 36 square metres and accommodates up to two people. It includes two beds and a private unit bathroom, giving you a simpler room choice while retaining more space than many standard Japanese hotel rooms.

The Superior Twin measures 56 square metres and accommodates up to three people. Its wider living area gives you more space for luggage, sitting, and relaxing between activities.

The Four-Bed Suite measures 81 square metres and accommodates up to four people. It has a combined living and bedroom area plus a separate bedroom, with four beds divided between the two spaces.

The 81-square-metre Japanese-Western Suite accommodates up to five people. A twin bedroom sits beside separate living and tatami rooms, giving you both Western beds and Japanese floor space. You prepare any required futons yourself after check-in.

The Royal Suite measures 153 square metres and accommodates up to five people. Its large layout includes a living room, Japanese room, and bedroom, making it suitable for a celebration or a longer family stay.

The Forest Open-Air Bath collection includes four room types on the second and third floors. You can choose a 36-square-metre Standard Twin, a 56-square-metre Superior Twin, an 81-square-metre Japanese-Western Suite, or an 81-square-metre Four-Bed Suite.

Each Forest room has a private Shigaraki-ware outdoor bath supplied with natural Onioshi Onsen water. You fill the tub yourself whenever you want to bathe, giving you fresh hot spring water without entering the communal facility.

The fourth-floor Terrace Open-Air Bath collection includes a 56-square-metre Superior Twin and an 81-square-metre Four-Bed Suite. These rooms also have private Shigaraki-ware baths filled with natural Onioshi Onsen water.

High-floor Mount Asama View rooms give you a different experience. The 56-square-metre Premium Superior Twin sits on the eighth floor, while the 81-square-metre Premium Four-Bed Suite occupies the seventh or eighth floor. Their private view baths look toward Mount Asama, but the Jacuzzis use regular heated water rather than natural onsen water.

The 153-square-metre Sky View Family Suite accommodates up to nine people. It includes a large living area, Japanese room, a ceiling window for looking at the night sky, and a private bath facing Mount Asama. This bath also uses regular heated water.

The 81-square-metre Dog Room accommodates up to four people and allows you to stay with your dog under the hotel’s pet rules. Its check-in and check-out times differ from the standard accommodation schedule.

Room equipment includes a television, refrigerator, electric kettle, safe, hair dryer, washlet toilet, coffee, tea, roomwear, slippers, towels, and toiletries. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel.

Smoking conditions differ between categories. Premium open-air-bath rooms and dog rooms are non-smoking, while some standard categories may include smoking rooms or rooms treated with deodorising equipment.

Dining

The main dinner choice is the 1130 Season Buffet at Asama Restaurant. The bright dining room faces the garden and offers Japanese, Western, and Chinese dishes, with seasonal vegetables and food from Tsumagoi, Gunma, and neighbouring regions.

Live cooking stations serve selected dishes immediately after preparation. The restaurant also has a children’s section, salads, appetisers, hot dishes, rice, noodles, bread, fruit, and desserts.

Buffet dinner normally runs from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Your dining time is arranged during check-in. On dates with lower occupancy, the service may change from a full buffet to a shared-table menu.

For a French-based dinner, choose La Verrière. Its creative courses combine French cooking with Japanese and Italian influences, using highland vegetables and ingredients from Nagano and Gunma.

Seasonal course ingredients may include Shinshu salmon, locally grown mushrooms, Akagi pork, Akagi chicken, Joshu beef, fish, mountain vegetables, and sauces made with wine or regional seasonings. Course contents change with supply and season.

Yamaboshi serves Japanese kaiseki using ingredients from mountains, rivers, farms, and local producers. Seasonal meals may combine sashimi, grilled river fish, Joshu beef, Gunma pork or chicken, vegetables, rice, soup, and dessert.

La Verrière and Yamaboshi operate through advance reservations on selected dates. Their menus come in several course levels, allowing you to choose a simpler dinner or a meal with additional ingredients and courses.

Breakfast is normally served as a buffet from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The dining location is assigned when you arrive.

The breakfast spread includes highland vegetables, Japanese side dishes, locally prepared rice balls, oyaki dumplings, grilled fish, rice porridge, miso soup, curry, noodles, bread, fruit, and desserts. Breads may include baguettes and dough flavoured with ingredients such as strawberry, spinach, or bamboo charcoal.

Lounge Danro offers drinks, sweets, and light refreshments beside a fireplace. Lunch service is currently suspended, but you can still use the lounge during its scheduled afternoon and evening hours.

Onsen and Wellness

Onioshi Onsen rises from beneath the Mount Asama area. Its yellow-brown water has a smooth bathing texture and is classified as a calcium, magnesium, sodium, sulfate, and bicarbonate spring.

The water is neutral, hypotonic, and naturally cooler than a typical bathing temperature. It emerges at approximately 35.7°C, so the hotel heats it before use and controls the amount and temperature inside the baths.

Traditional bathing indications include fatigue, neuralgia, muscle discomfort, stiff joints, burns, long-term skin concerns, and digestive discomfort.

Separate areas for men and women include large indoor baths, open-air baths, saunas, changing rooms, and relaxation spaces. The outdoor pools allow you to feel the highland air while surrounded by trees.

The public baths normally open from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and from 2:00 p.m. until midnight. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the morning session ends at 10:00 a.m. Cleaning takes place between the two sessions.

There is no reservable private bath within the communal onsen area. For private natural hot spring bathing, choose a Forest Open-Air Bath room on the second or third floor or a Terrace Open-Air Bath room on the fourth floor.

You fill these private Shigaraki-ware baths yourself each time you use them. This lets you enjoy Onioshi Onsen water privately in your accommodation.

The high-floor Mount Asama View rooms and Sky View Family Suite have private baths, but these contain regular heated water rather than natural spring water. Standard room bathrooms also use regular water.

Nonoka provides facial care, aroma-oil body treatments, massage, reflexology, head care, and combined sessions. The treatment space is close to the onsen and normally operates by reservation from the afternoon until late evening.

Guests with Tattoos

You cannot use the communal indoor baths, outdoor baths, or sauna when you have tattoos.

Choose a Forest Open-Air Bath room or Terrace Open-Air Bath room when you want private access to natural Onioshi Onsen water. You can use the outdoor bath attached to your room freely.

The high-floor Mount Asama View baths and the Sky View Family Suite also provide complete bathing privacy, but their water is not natural onsen water.

Tattoos are also not allowed in the Comori Park indoor swimming pool.

Facilities

Comori Park is an indoor heated pool designed for both adults and children. The main pool measures approximately 16 metres long and between six and ten metres wide, with a depth of around one metre and a water temperature of approximately 29°C.

Three slides lead into a shallower area. The pool also has a ship-shaped Jacuzzi and a separate children’s Jacuzzi with a depth of around 50 centimetres.

The pool normally opens from 2:00 p.m. until 8:45 p.m. Access carries an additional charge during your stay, and the facility closes on scheduled maintenance dates. A swimming cap is required in the main pool.

The rooftop Panorama Terrace opens from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. You can look across the Kita-Karuizawa plateau and toward Mount Asama when conditions are clear. Ice and snow may close the terrace during winter.

A Kids’ Room provides indoor play space for preschool children. You need to remain with your child while using the room.

The shop sells regional food, sweets, daily necessities, drinks, craft beer, local sake, and souvenirs. A microwave is available on the third floor, while vending and ice machines are positioned around the building.

The coin laundry helps during longer visits or active holidays. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the property, and the large building has elevators connecting its accommodation and shared floors.

You can reserve the table-tennis area for an indoor activity. Four outdoor Omni tennis courts open during the green season, with rackets, balls, and shoes available to rent.

The herb garden contains more than 20 types of plants that you can see, touch, and smell. It opens during the warmer months and may close when the ground freezes.

Banquet halls and meeting rooms support conferences, celebrations, group meals, and private events. The largest dining and banquet area can accommodate up to 250 people.

Free parking is available for around 150 vehicles.

Activities

Begin with the Panorama Terrace for an elevated view across the forest and Mount Asama. Clear evenings also give you the chance to look at the stars from the hotel grounds.

During warmer months, play tennis, rent a bicycle, walk around the property, or visit the herb garden. Several golf courses lie within a 15- to 20-minute drive, including Karuizawa Kogen Golf Club, Taiheiyo Club Karuizawa Resort, and President Country Club Karuizawa.

Onioshidashi Park introduces you to the volcanic history of Mount Asama. Walking paths pass through dark lava formations created by the major eruption of 1783, with the mountain rising beyond the rocks.

Karuizawa Toy Kingdom is around seven minutes away by car and offers rides, indoor play areas, toys, and seasonal attractions for younger children.

Shiraito Falls is approximately 25 minutes away by car using the toll road. Underground water spreads across a curved rock face before falling in hundreds of narrow streams.

Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza, Kyu-Karuizawa, Kumoba Pond, Harunire Terrace, and the forest programs around Picchio can be reached on a longer drive toward central Karuizawa.

Winter gives you access to several ski areas. Karuizawa Snow Park is around 20 minutes away, while Karuizawa Prince Hotel Ski Resort, Palcall Tsumagoi Resort, and other slopes provide skiing, snowboarding, tubing, and snow play.

You can also spend a full day inside the hotel by combining Comori Park, table tennis, the natural hot spring, a treatment at Nonoka, and dinner.

Additional Features

Standard check-in begins at 3:00 p.m., and check-out is by 11:00 a.m. The Dog Room has a 3:30 p.m. check-in and a 10:00 a.m. check-out.

A complimentary shuttle connects the hotel with the south exit of JR Karuizawa Station. The journey normally takes around 40 minutes and must be reserved by 6:00 p.m. on the day before travel.

Current departures from Karuizawa Station are scheduled for 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., and 4:40 p.m. Return services leave the hotel at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 3:30 p.m. Traffic, weather, and seasonal conditions can cause delays.

Karuizawa Station is around one hour from Tokyo Station on the fastest Hokuriku Shinkansen services. The complete journey to the hotel takes around one hour and 40 minutes when connections run smoothly.

By car, the hotel is around 50 to 60 minutes from Usui-Karuizawa Interchange. The drive from central Tokyo usually takes approximately two and a half hours without heavy traffic.

Winter roads around Kita-Karuizawa can become covered with snow or ice. Winter tyres or chains are essential during the colder months.